Another great way to get listings is online reviews. Online reviews impact purchasing decisions for over 93% of consumers, according to a survey conducted by Podium.
If you don’t have any reviews yet, don’t worry. There are a few things you can do to increase your chances of getting an online review.
Here’s one thing you should definitely do: Once you close a home, either with a buyer or a seller, ask them what they thought of your services. The sooner you do this after you close, the better, especially if you have an idea that they will give you a good review. Chances are, they're going to have more positive things to say about you right after the sale versus if you follow up three, four, five, six weeks later when the “high” is over. So be quick about it.
How to Ask for Reviews
First, I follow up and make sure they're happy. I ask them something like, "Hey, Mr. Seller, thank you so much for allowing me to sell your home. I get a lot of my business from reviews and referrals, and I just wanted to check with you to make sure I did a good job. If you’re up for it, I have two questions I’d love for you to answer. Number one: what did I do really well that I should continue to do? And number two: what could I have done better?"
With this short-and-sweet message, it’s likely they will respond, and it’s also likely they're not going to be dishonest with you. Whatever response they give, you can use that to learn, but you can also use the response as a gauge to see if you should ask for a review.
How to Handle Negative Reviews
Obviously, if somebody wasn’t happy with your services and lets you know that in this private message, you don't really want to ask for an online review from them. On the positive side, though, a negative response to the private message gives you an opportunity to fix something that may have made them unhappy. That's why I recommend first leading with, "Hey, what did I do well that I can do better or that I should continue doing? And what could I have done better?"
Once you’re certain they're enthusiastic on all levels, you should ask for an online review. However, you should be specific about which site they should go to based on your own preferences or previous successes. For example, if you're getting a lot of good response on Zillow, ask your clients to leave their reviews on Zillow. Obviously, you want more reviews on the site that’s bringing you the most business.
How to Choose the Best Review Platform
If you don’t have many reviews yet, do some research on which sites your local competition is using, then request your former clients use that platform.
And, if they are just so overwhelmed with how great a job you’ve done and would be willing to leave you multiple reviews, definitely try to get them to give you reviews on other sites. There’s no such thing as too many good online reviews. The more the better.
Let's recap:
- Follow up with a personal message to make sure they're happy and ask them what you could have done better.
- Once they're enthusiastic, ask for the review (or multiple reviews if they’re really thrilled with you).
- Here’s a bonus tip: Once they provide a review, ask for a referral. This is the law of commitment and consistency. Once somebody makes a commitment, they want to stay consistent with the commitments they’ve made. So if they give you a good review, they are very likely to also give you a referral.
